


Rest Your Weary Bones

by JedimasterMegan



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Love, Casual reminder that the Kaminoans suck, Comfort, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29003835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JedimasterMegan/pseuds/JedimasterMegan
Summary: We need your post-op reports by tomorrow,GAR command had said.Take some time with the men,Skywalker had urged.You all deserve a break.Get some sleep,Cody had told him.You kriffing look like shit.And here Rex was, disappointing all three of them.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 50





	Rest Your Weary Bones

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShinyGastrodon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinyGastrodon/gifts).



> A gift for my friend ShinyGastrodon! (@shiny-gastrodon on tumblr!) Love you bro <333
> 
> And I hate that this is actually a thing I have to say to people but if you even Think of any of this as clonec*st it's on sight

_We need your post-op reports by tomorrow_ , GAR command had said.

_Take some time with the men,_ Skywalker had urged. _You all deserve a break_.

_Get some sleep_ , Cody had told him. _You kriffing look like shit._

And here Rex was, disappointing all three of them.

Really, it was almost funny how he had all these things he should have been doing, and yet here he sat in the Torrent Company common room, doing absolutely nothing. He didn't even have the holoscreen on, despite the fact it was one of the few times they had a secure signal to the core worlds and there was probably a limmie game he was missing. He just stared out the viewport at the galaxy beyond the ship's borders, unable to stop _thinking_.

Their last battle was rough. They lost a lot of men, and even more were injured. He'd seen the medics' reports, and he knew that by tomorrow morning there would be a few more brothers marching on.

The stars in the viewport seemed extra bright, sparkling against the darkness of the galaxy. They always looked like that when they traveled through open space. He wondered how many of them he had visited at this point.

He wondered how many planets his fallen brothers would never get the chance to see, all the dreams they would never get to see fulfilled. He felt like a failure for letting their deaths happen on his watch, both as a leader and as a brother.

The Kaminoans used to have a saying about the stars, and he remembered the day his command class was told it in perfect clarity. "From water you are born, in fire you die," they said, dark eyes blinking slowly, indifferent, as if they were discussing something as simple as the weather. "Your bodies seed the stars."

He didn't want his brothers' bodies out among those bright, twinkling, _stupid_ stars. He wanted them _here_ , with _him,_ as selfish as that was.

All of a sudden, he was up and moving through the halls of the ship, not even sure where his feet were taking him until he saw the entrance to the barracks. Then, there was only one thought going through his head.

_I need to see them._

He made it to the threshold and stopped himself before he could enter. The doors had broke long ago— a victim of some ill-advised prank— and with how often they were deployed, there had never been a chance to get them fixed. Instead, they dimmed the lights of the hallway leading to it every night cycle. For this reason, Rex knew not one of the men would notice the slight change in shadows that passed them unless he made enough noise to wake them up, but he still couldn't bring himself to enter. Not for a random, silly urge of his.

He had nearly convinced himself to turn and go when he noticed the shadows around him shift, and he looked up to see another person approaching from the opposite end of the hall.

"Fives?" he said, recognizing him from the way he walked. "What are you doing up so late?"

The ARC shrugged, leaning against the wall a few paces from the entrance. "I could ask you the same thing, Captain."

"I asked you first," he said, crossing his arms. It was late, he wasn't going to pull rank.

Fives inclined his head, conceding the point. "Midnight snack," he answered, showing off the half-eaten ration bar in his hand. "I missed late meal taking the last transport off planet."

Rex ignored the twisting in his gut. He hadn't known there were transports heading back to the ship after late meal. Those reports must have gone straight to General Skywalker. "Kitchen staff leave those out?" he asked.

The ARC popped the rest of the bar in his mouth. It was clearly not one of the really dry kinds because he could still talk right afterward. "More or less."

He raised an eyebrow, though he wasn't completely sure Fives could see it.

"I used a little ARC privilege to snag a couple extra," Fives said, the whites of his teeth reflecting the low light as he grinned.

Rex remained unimpressed. "'ARC privilege,' huh."

Fives shrugged again. "Hey, can't help others when you got an empty stomach."

"Oh yeah?" Rex had a feeling he wasn't going to like where this conversation was going. "And who is it you're helping at this hour?"

His brother's eyes met his in the dark. "You." 

Rex stayed silent.

"What are you doing here, Rex?" he said softly, and Rex finally looked away.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just– just checking on the men." He saw Fives push himself off the wall, but he didn't move any closer. He seemed to be waiting for something. 

Rex opened his mouth, then closed it, wondering how much he should say, how much he _could_ say. He was the captain, and he needed to _act_ like one. He wasn't supposed to bother the men with his own problems.

But.

_But_.

This was Fives. The trooper he saw grow from rookie to vet to ARC. The one he counted on to tell him when things were wrong. A close confidant, one he could trust with anything. The little brother who knew him best in this war. Not Kix, not Jesse, not the batchmates he hadn't seen in years, not even Cody. Fives. Fives knew him better than anyone, knew all the small signs to tell him he wasn't here as an ARC, but a friend.

His brother wasn't counting on him to be the captain right now. He didn't have to pretend. He just had to be Rex. 

"I need to know they're okay," he whispered, and that admission must have been what Fives was waiting for because suddenly there was no distance between them with his little brother hugging him close.

"We're here," he said. "We're okay."

He didn't say they were safe— his brother knew better than to make promises like that— but what he offered was enough. He nodded against Fives' shoulder, squeezing tight before letting go. He had what he came here for, enough to satisfy that silly little urge that made his chest feel tight. There was no reason to keep disturbing his men in their sleep.

"Wait, Rex," Fives reached out and caught his arm, preventing him from leaving. "There's an extra bunk in there, right next to mine. No one's used it in months."

"Stay in the barracks tonight," Fives pleaded. "You need this, and so do the men."

It was selfish to want to stay, but Rex decided he would not disappoint any more people today.

He nodded and let his little brother lead him to the bunk on silent feet. Not a single one of the men stirred.

Fives hugged him once more before heading to his own bunk, and this time, with the quiet noises of his men sleeping soundly filling the room, he fully relaxed into the gesture's warmth.

He had his brothers here, and they were alive.

That was really all he could ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @its-captain-sir on tumblr if you wanna say hi!


End file.
